Pumpkin Time!

Fall is Pumpkin Time!  I recently picked up this book at Old Sturbridge Village, which celebrates everything pumpkin.  And it’s not just pie!  This book contains 125 recipes, for everything from beverages, side dishes, appetizers, main dishes, and yes, desserts.  Some recipes use fresh pumpkin, others call for canned, and some can use them interchangeably.  Some recipes call for just the seeds.  If you make Jack O’ Lanterns this Halloween, be sure to save all of the seeds, and wash and roast them.  You can simply eat them as a snack, or use them in recipes.

I tried the Mexican Pumpkin Lasagna recipe last night, and it was very tasty.  I know it may sound weird, but give it a try. This is a nice homey dish for fall and winter, nothing fancy like you might get at the high end restaurants on Disney cruises.  It’s almost a complete meal in itself, all you really might want to add is a green salad served on the side.  This is something that I think even children would enjoy…you may want to leave out the hot sauce and jalapenos if you will be feeding this to little kids.  But it’s really not that hot, when I make it again, I will probably add an additional jalapeno.  But that is totally up to you.

This calls for canned pumpkin, but you could certainly cook and puree your own, if you have fresh pumpkins around.  If buying canned, I recommend Libby’s…it is “pure pumpkin”, no added sugar, spices, or anything else.  Some brands of canned pumpkin are intended only for use in pies and other sweet treats, and already come sweetened and seasoned with pumpkin pie spice.  You do NOT want that in a savory dish such as this one.  In fact, I don’t even want that for pies, I prefer to put in my own sugar and spices.

If you buy the book, or get it from the library, you will notice that I adjusted some of the amounts from the original recipe.  The original recipe calls for 3/4 pound ground turkey, I had a one-pound package, so I used it all.  It called for one cup of canned beans, but the can had a bit more than a cup in it, so once again, I just threw them all in.  Anyhoo, you get the idea.  The recipe I’m giving here is exactly how I made it. Mike doesn’t like cilantro, so I used parsley.

Mexican Pumpkin Lasagna

Butter or cooking spray, for preparing pan
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 pound ground turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
Salt & pepper to taste
2-3 drops hot sauce, or to taste (optional)
1 can (15.5 ounces) kidney beans, drained, rinsed, and slightly mashed
1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin
1 each red & green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 or 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (optional)
8 flour tortillas, 8 inch size
1 16 ounce container of sour cream
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 (16 ounce) jar of tomato salsa, mild or medium
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or cilantro

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9 x 13 inch baking pan by greasing it with butter, or spraying with nonstick cooking spray.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the turkey and cook until it’s no longer pink, breaking it up with a spoon, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and cook about 5 minutes longer, or until soft. Add the tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and hot sauce, and cook for another 5 minutes, mashing up the tomatoes a bit.

Stir in the beans and pumpkin, remove from heat, set aside. Combine the red and green bell peppers and jalapeno in a small bowl.

To assemble the dish: Place four of the tortillas in the bottom of the pan, overlapping each other a little, and going up the sides of the pan. Spoon half of the turkey mixture on top of this. Then spoon half the sour cream over this, then sprinkle about a cup of the Cheddar cheese on top of that. Top with half the pepper mixture.

The next layer gets two more tortillas, the remaining turkey mixture, the remaining sour cream, one cup of the Monterey Jack cheese, and the remaining peppers. Finally, top with the last two tortillas and the salsa. If using the whole jar seems like too much, use less by all means. Exact amounts are not all that important here. Then top with the remaining cheeses. If two cups of cheese on top is too much for you, once again, just use less.

Put the pan in the oven and bake, uncovered, for 35-45 minutes. The top should be golden brown and the cheese nice and melty. Remove from the oven, sprinkle the parsley or cilantro on top. It is easier to slice if you let it sit for 10 minutes or so after coming out of the oven.

The original recipe says that this makes 10 servings, but the two of us ate about a third of it in one sitting. So serving size will vary depending upon the presence of hungry men and/or teenaged boys.

Enjoy!

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